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Monthly Archives: June 2014

by Michelle Felber • June 25, 2014 • Comments Off on 78th Assembly District Candidate Forum

Kathy Cramer, Interim Director, Morgridge Center for Public Service

PROFS will host a public forum of candidates in the Democratic primary for the 78th Assembly District on Monday, July 21 at 7pm. The forum will be held in Room 1325 in the Health Sciences Learning Center. A map of the district, which includes much of the west side of Madison, is here.

Political Science professor Kathy Cramer, Interim Director of the Morgridge Center for Public Service, will moderate. Audience members will be able to contribute questions at the forum, but we encourage you to leave questions in the comments section below.

Madison alders Mark Clear and Lisa Subeck will be on the ballot on Tuesday, August 12. Clear has served on the Madison Common Council since 2007 and is currently executive director of Accelerate Madison, an association of digital technology busineses. Subeck has served on the Madison Common Council since 2011 and is executive director of NARAL-Pro Choice Wisconsin, a reproductive rights advocacy organization.

The winner of the primary will almost certainly win election in November since no other partisan candidates will be on the ballot.

The talk is sponsored by WISCAPE, the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education.

The continued defunding of public higher education has put enormous pressure on governance boards, and in some cases, resulted in changes to shared governance. Wellman will discuss these challenges and explore ways in which to improve the functionality of public-sector governing boards.

by Michelle Felber • June 5, 2014 • Comments Off on June Board of Regents Meeting

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents is meeting at UW-Milwaukee today and tomorrow, June 5 and 6. The regents will meet in committee Thursday morning and in full Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Video and audio stream of the full meetings is available here.

The board will discuss the 2014-15 annual budget and begin discussion on the 2015-17 biennial budget process. UW System President Ray Cross told the Wisconsin State Journal he expects the current tuition freeze to continue into the 2015-17 biennium. Governor Scott Walker recently expressed support for a continued tuition freeze.

Chancellor Rebecca Blank has repeatedly said she would like to raise professional school tuition to levels similar to peer institutions, but Cross said the timing is not right for such an increase and tuition will be frozen for all undergraduate and graduate students, regardless of residency.

The board will also discuss plans to spend down financial reserves. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinelreports the current budget will spend down about 15 percent of the reserves, much of it coming from tuition reserves. UW System will carryover about $61 million in unspent tuition in 2014-15, down from $151 million one year ago.

Federal, statewide, and legislative candidates hoping to be on the ballot this fall were required to submit nomination papers to the Government Accountability Board by 5 pm yesterday, Monday, June 2. Nomination papers are subject to verification, and a full list of candidates is here.

There were few surprises, as most candidates had publicly announced their candidacy over the past several months. One exception is the surprise candidacy of former State Senator Gary George (D-Milwaukee). George served four years in federal prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the government in 2004. George filed papers to challenge longtime incumbent Congresswoman Gwen Moore, a Democrat from Milwaukee, saying public service is his calling.

Locally, Congressman Mark Pocan faces opposition from Republican Peter Theron of Madison. Theron holds a Ph.D in mathematics from UW-Madison and is a math instructor at Madison College. He ran against Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin in 2008, garnering 31 percent of the vote.

Attorney General: Three Democrats are vying for the opportunity to face Republican Brad Schimel, Waukesha County District Attorney in November — Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, and State Representative Jon Richards.

Most incumbent legislators in Dane County face token or no opposition. However, first term Representative Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) will face Middleton Republican Brent Renteria in the 79th Assembly District.

Two Democrats are vying to represent Assembly District 78: Alders Mark Clear and Lisa Subeck. The primary election will almost certainly decide the November winner; the top vote-getter has no opponent on the general election ballot.

Campus Events

PROFS regularly hosts campus forums on topics relating to public higher education and faculty. Our most recent forum was May 3 and focused on shared governance. Past topics include the state budget, employee self-insurance, and the future of public higher education.